Mistakes
by Reading Girl
Summary: YJ gets dumped in a forest with a cat girl due to a mistake on her part. Now they have to help her save her world. And they're not particularly happy about it...
1. Chapter One

Chapter 1: Meet Kate

A/N: Do you really think I own Young Justice? 'Cause I don't. I do, however, own Kate.

The members of Young Justice appeared with a poof in the middle of a forest.

"Where are we?" asked Wondergirl.

"In a forest?" responded Impulse.

"You know, he just might be right," said Superboy.

"Anyone have any USEFUL idea of where we are?" asked Robin.

"Why the frag would we?" interjected Lobo (A/N: for simplicities sake, I'm just going to refer to him as Lobo because slobo is stupid and li'l lobo is too much work. You can pretend he's whoever you want.)

"Well, I wouldn't know. Why don't we look around. The forest is dense enough it's probably better if we don't split up." Said Robin, assuming the role of heroic leader.

A few minutes later, they were just as lost as they had been before.

"This is pointless," complained Superboy.

"I'm bored," whined Impulse.

"This place is fraggin' useless." Moaned Lobo.

"Will you all just SHUT UP!" yelled an annoyed Wondergirl.

"Yeah, mon," added in an equally ticked Empress.

"Though this IS boring," said Secret.

"We're not accomplishing anything doing this. Why don't we sit down somewhere and figure out what to do next?" said Robin.

"Sure, why not?"

Five minutes later, a cat girl fell out of the tree tops with a scream, landing in the middle of Young Justice, which were sitting around in a clearing.

Shocked silence fell. The cat girl sat back up.

"Owww..." she moaned. Then, "Whoa. Who're you?"

Empress teleported over and grabbed her, holding her still.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" hissed Robin, annoyed. "Okay, scratch that. Who are you and what are we doing here?"

The girl looked guilty. "Well, I think when I tried to summon help from the gods I accidentally mis-specified and got you instead of a demi-god. Sorry about that."

"So send us fraggin' back!" yelled lobo, obviously ticked off.

The girl looked even guiltier. "Ummm... I can't. Not until I die or succeed. It's in the specifications of the summoning. And I'm not really very powerful... Why the tribe left it up to me to save all of them is utterly beyond me. I think a god musta yelled at them a lot to make them do it... anyways, if I return to get help to return you they'll ritually hack of my limbs then burn me to cleanse the village."

"Living in your tribe must be exciting," commented Empress.

"You have no idea. Mind letting me up?"

Empress let the girl stand up. She was tall, maybe five feet ten inches, with dark brown cat-like eyes, mostly covered in fur, with a tail. She was wearing a tunic and pants of some sort, made out of brown cloth mottled with moss green, apparently as camouflage.

"I'm Kate. What's your names?"

"These are Superboy, Wondergirl, Empress, Secret, Impulse and Lobo, and I'm Robin."

"Nice to meetcha. Sorry 'bout this."

"It's okay, it sounds like an accident. We'll help you, right?"

Most of YJ nodded, except for Lobo.

"I vote we frag her. She said if she died she'd be sent back home."

"No. Absolutely not." Stated Robin.

"Watch it, Lobo," said Empress warningly. He grumblingly fell quiet.

"My home is over this way. Come on!" put in an unfazed Kate.

The members of YJ followed her, having nothing else to do. She brought them through the forest, past a small stream and into a glade filled with absolutely HUGE trees, trees hundreds of feet tall and easily several dozen feet thick at the base of the trunk. Up in one of the trees was a small house, set into the crotch of two giant tree limbs. The girl looked up at her house, then at her guests, then frowned.

"Don't know how you're gonna get up... I climb with my claws," she said, casually popping out five claws on her hand, one at the base of each finger, "but I don't think you can... I could probably help some of you up..."

"I can climb, and Superboy and Wondergirl can fly, and Empress and teleport, and Secret can float... but I don't know about Lobo..." said Robin.

"Yeah... he's too heavy for me to support, and there's no branches for the first fifty feet for him to climb...I think I can get a rope to let down, though... Yeah, that'll work! Hold on!"

So saying this, she scampered straight up the tree, leaping to the hut, where a rope shortly uncoiled itself and rolled down. Everyone made their respective ways up to the treehouse, which was actually quite big, extending into the hollowed out trunk of the tree.

"We can talk in the tree, first room on the left as you enter. I'll be there in a second!" said Kate. The members of YJ filed in, curious. The inside was cozy, with light coming from a single window. The floor was covered in a woven rug, and cushions were scattered everywhere. The teens all looked at each other, shrugged, then flopped down.

Kate reentered, carrying a plate of sandwiches, which she stuck on the ground, then grabbed one. "Have a sandwich. Okay, so here's what's happening: my people, the cat-people, are being attacked by demons. We used to live pretty well together; we had the treetops, they had the forest floor; they had the nighttime, we had the daytime. They're insectile, can fly, have a hive-mind, and didn't bother us. There was even occasional interaction. But another person, someone unknown, developed a way to control the central mind. They've started killing off our people, scaling our trees into our houses. The only chance we have is to get through the forest, around the Greater Lake, into the demon mound, then figure out who or what is controlling the mind, then kill or remove it. I'm your only ally—the others have been evacuated. I'm left here for I don't know why, but probably a god or something commanded them to pick me as their representative."

The other teens stared at the cat girl.

"Are you sure that's all we have to do?" said Secret weakly.

"No." came the comforting answer.

A/N: End part 1. More soon! Please review, for my sake at least. Just think; a minute could make my whole day!


	2. Chapter Two

**Mistakes: Chapter Three**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Young Justice. I do own Kate, Domino and the world they are currently in. Please don't sue me! Whimper!

**Shout-outs:**

**RobinIV: **You're right as well! Oh well again. Please ignore the slightly less gaping plot holes that are only mildly irksome. Many thankyous and hurrahs to my most favorite and loyal reviewer! Read her fic: YJ generation 2. It's the bestest!

**Jena: **Hmm… You're right. Please ignore the gaping plot holes!

**Mattb3671: **Many thanks to you as well!

**The Uncanny R-Man:** Okay, okay, I'm updating! But only on the basis that you update soon as well. Okay? Okay. And cat girls do kick butt

without further ado:

**Mistakes: Chapter Two**

"Okay, now that we've gone over particulars, how about we sleep? I'm tired from my summoning this morning," said Kate, emphasizing her point with a yawn.

"Sounds good to me," said Robin. "Any place we **can** sleep?"

"Sure. Should be room in my room for the girls and you boys can have this room. Bathrooms a door down on your left, kitchens the room we entered, that should be all you need to know. Follow me!" replied the extremely exuberant Kate.

She led them to another room, this one with no windows. It was similar to the previous room, with no furniture to speak of except for a small, low dresser, and the floor was carpeted and covered in various cushions.

"Make yourselves at home," said Kate, flumping onto a pillow. "There's blankets over there, in the corner. Good night!"

"'night!"

Soon the small sounds of people getting themselves comfortable filled the room, then the sounds of quiet breathing. The night passed peacefully…

Robin was the first up, and, quietly as possible, walked into the entrance room to the hollow tree, the outside room.

The sunlight streamed through the branches, the light tinted golden-green as it was sifted through the leaves; the early-morning chorus of birds resounded through the room.

At this point Kate climbed into the room, holding a fish in her mouth and mumbling incoherently around it.

"Murmph swivvlefumph allhjhamph…"

"Good morning to you too," put in a still-tired Robin.

"Oh," said Kate, removing said fish. "Well, what I actually said counts as unprintable obscenities that will not be posted here for the purpose of the authors' rating accuracy. So lets just say that I said 'I wonder who will be up yet?', hmmm?"

"O…K…" put in Robin, looking at her oddly. Kate scared him more than the rest of the Batclan put together, which really said something. He could deal with psychosis, antisocial disorders, even Batmans' evil glares, but not the hyperness-bordering-on-hysteria of Kate.

"You go wake everyone the other boys up, and I'll go get the girls," said aforementioned hyper cat girl. "I caught one of the demons last night, we can go study it over breakfast. We'll have to go fast though, it's old, looks like it'll die before noon, and I want you to get acquainted with the way it moves and reacts. Not human, no individual minds, still thinks organically…It's tricky to get to know the way it reacts. Vital information!"

"Sounds good. After all, know your enemy…"

"Right!"

A few minutes later all the members of young justice plus Kate were gathered together eating bread and cheese, apparently all that Kate had at the moment.

"Follow me!" yelled Kate, running down the tree trunk, then pausing at the bottom for everyone else. Empress, remembering (A/N: read 'the author remembering via help from RobinIV') that she could transport one other person, taking Lobo. Then the girl started walking into the deepest, darkest section of the woods.

The trees dripped down onto them, muffled creakings echoing in the dark atmosphere where branches rubbed together. Strange grunting and squeaking noises echoed from all around them.

Kate seemed oblivious to it all, skipping ahead of everyone else. Lobo was the only other person seemingly unaffected, just his normal grumpy-to-the-point-of-homicidal self. Everyone else was slightly on...edge. Disturbing scenery does not help early-morning world views.

Then with a harsh scream a shadow detached itself from the canopy, flinging itself down onto the leading member—Kate. She was flung down, mashed into the ground, her scream of surprise cut short by a mouthful of moss and dirt.

Then she twisted herself out from under the strange creature, clawing at it, so that it retreated, hissing warningly. Kate gave out the three-octave scream that all cats develop when they're fighting, then, about to lunge at the stranger, suddenly stopped.

"_Domino!?!!!"_

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah, riiight. How many people do I know who're black with white spots. And why in the name of the One who watches over all are you HERE!?!!"

"So, I'm guessing you missed me?"

"Well, yeah, but what are you doing here of all places?"

"Well, I was sick and tired of the tribe being nosy, nasty violent people. And I missed you. So I followed you."

"You are aware that the tribe now has an excuse to tear you limb from limb!?!!"

"Yup!"

"Does anyone mind explaining to us what's going on without any more confusing cryptic remarks?" asked Robin wearily, looking at the black cat-person with white splotches. He had a headache and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.

"Oh, right. This is Domino; he used to be a member of our tribe, but, since he followed me, he's been kicked out of it and faces a public burning if he ever shows his face again. Domino, these are Lobo, Robin, Empress, Superboy, Wondergirl, Secret and Impulse. They accidentally got brought here when I was seeking help from the gods."

"Well, that's fun. What're you doing in the scummy part of the woods, anyway?"

"Going to go see a demon I caught. Come along!" and with that she skipped off once more through the looming trees.

"I worry about that girl," sighed Domino. "Being dropped on her head as a child wouldn't even begin to cover it."

"I understand," said Robin fervently, who hadn't had his morning coffee yet. They tramped off through the woods after Kate.

A few minutes later they found themselves facing a demon. It was vaguely insectile, with a segmented body, though it was remarkably slim and delicate. The rest of it was mostly human, though covered in a black exoskeleton that bounced back light in the deepest aquamarine. The eyes were true black and human, though the creature had spikes instead of hair, and was designed to move equally well on two legs, four or six.

The strangest thing about it, however, was the way it moved: there was a back-and-forth quality to its motion that made it extremely difficult to judge speed and intent.

"Doesn't look so hard to kill to me," said Impulse, rushing up and banging on the shell of the creature. "Owww…" he moaned afterwards, holding the sore fingers.

"That was stupid," said Domino dryly.

"No, it wasn't stupid, it was Impulse," said Robin.

"Yeah," added in Wondergirl. "He's a bit…well…impulsive."

"I could frag the thing easy," muttered Lobo. "And I wouldn't do like stupid here…"

"The problem," said Kate, serious for once, "isn't in how easy they are to kill, it's in getting past half a million or more of them and into the hive and to figure out who's responsible and then _back out again_ that's the hard part."

"That's a good point," said Domino reflectively.

**A/N**: And that's all for this chapter. I know it's pretty much filler, but I needed it done and out of my system. READ AND REVIEW! PLEASE! You can at least type in 'good job' or 'this is junk' or SOMETHING! I don't even know how many people have read this! And I'm hoping its not four, the number of reviews at this point in time. 'Till my next update, then!


	3. Chapter Three

**Mistakes: Chapter 3 **(for real this time! Not a typo!)

**A/N:** Accidentally titled last chapter Chapter 3. Ignore it. In reality it is Chapter 2, always has been, always will be. Sorry.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own YJ or anything related to them. Somebody else does. Somebody else as in not me. But then, you probably knew that. People who write fanfiction generally don't own licensed characters.

**Shout-outs:**

**RobinIV-** This probably (emphasis on 'probably') won't count as necessary filler. I hope. I also hope you like still like it! Once again, read RobinIV's stuff, it's the bestest! Especially YJ: Generation 2.

**The Uncanny R-Man-** opinions about romance are accepted, to the point of encouragement. If you have opinions, give me them! Send me an email or something. I like getting emails; they make me almost as happy as reviews.

**Mattb3671-** Thank you to the one person who has reviewed every single one of my stories! And, if you're reading this, please update your own story soon, you've left me hanging without its regular encouragement! Actually I'm just spoiled by frequent updaters. Nevermind.

**And now, the real story!**

**Chapter Three:**

The members of YJ along with the two cat-people had returned to Kate's tree-house to pack for what was described to them "as a long, arduous journey over desert and forest, mountain and prairie, ocean and swamp, hill and vale, over the creek and through the wood, past Grandmothers house and to the giant evil demon-nest of doom" by Domino.

Most of YJ watched as Kate and Domino packed. It was, as all packing intrinsically is, chaos.

"Have you seen my staffs?" yelled Kate at Domino.

"I have them!" he responded. "I think! Okay, maybe not, but I could have sworn I put them right here…I don't think my life has become so messed up as to have sticks grow legs and walk off their own accord!"

Robin looked over at a sniggering Superboy and Impulse. His deductive reasoning told him… "Give them back, guys," he sighed. The things he had to put up with…what's more, he still hadn't found any coffee, and his caffeine withdrawal was giving him a killer headache.

Eventually, however, everything was found, returned, organized and finally packed, then parceled out among the people. Everyone but Kate stood outside the tree house, all waiting for her as she dug through something or other. The only sounds to be heard was muffled cursing, bumps and solid thuds suggesting heavy objects falling on people. Certain female cat-people, to be exact.

Eventually she emerged, triumphantly holding aloft what really, really resembled a battered stick, maybe two feet long.

"I found it!"

"What is it?" asked Robin. He had enough tact, at least, not to ask if it was a battered stick.

"Traditional evil weapon," said Kate with a smile. "Catch!" and, with that proclamation, tossed it to Robin. He caught it reflectively, then jumped slightly as a sharp blade swung out of the end, clicking into place, revealing it as a slightly curved blade attached to, well, a battered stick.

"Evil thing," said Domino. "I much prefer my normal battered stick."

Lobo looked interested for the first time. Sharp pointy destructive things had that effect on him.

"Shall we get going then?" asked an impatient Impulse in a totally out of character remark.

"Okay, lets." Agreed Kate. "Me'n'Domino can take us, about…halfway there by magic, but we'll need to walk the rest. And boat. Fun, eh?"

"No, not really," said Robin. "Necessary. Not fun. Never fun. Being stuck in somebody else's universe is not 'fun'. Having to kill a horde of demon insects is not 'fun'."

"Somebody still needs his coffee," put in Wondergirl, nodding sagely.

"Coffee? Why didn't you say so? I have some. Here you go," she said, tossing a bag of coffee beans over to the desperate Boy Wonder.

"Coffee!" he screeched, latching onto the bag and sticking it straight into his mouth. He started to suck on it.

"Well, I was going to recommend waiting for water, but it doesn't look like that's going to be a problem…" put in Domino slowly, edging away from Robin.

Lobo looked amazed. That was the closest he'd ever seen Bird Boy get to a maniacal crazed-killer-psychopath look.

Getting tired of the authors' useless banter, Domino waved his hands and muttered incoherently, causing the group to disappear in a poof, then reappear on the shores of a lake. A huge lake. One of those ones where the other side is only visible as a smoky smudge on the other horizon.

What's more, the group had managed to appear /right/ in the middle of a bunch of the evil-demon-bugs.

The group exploded into action, Kate slashing several with her sharp pointy thing while Domino whacked at sensitive spots with his stick, incapacitating instead of killing. Robin took one out with a kick, then threw a batarang at one threatening Kate from behind. Lobo just generally destroyed several, and Superboy and Wondergirl did something similar, though considerably less senselessly violent.

Eventually they were all dead, or, at least, that's what they thought. But a puddle of shadow beneath an over-hanging rock formation moved, and out of it came one of the creatures.

"Who're you?" it asked, it's voice either a high male's voice or a low female voice. "Why'd you save me?"

"Wait a minute**, wait…a…minute**!" said Domino, striding over, hands raised above his head in an 'o god, what now?' gesture. "What's happening here? Aren't you a collective personality? Why aren't you trying to kill us? Why were the others trying to kill you? What **are** you doing here anyway?"

"What's the meaning of life?" asked Impulse. Then, "What? I figured that since /he/ was asking questions, I might as well as mine."

"42," responded the demon, in a voice that obviously implied his doubt for Impulse's sanity.

The only reason Lobo had not immediately killed the insect on the basis that it was a) alive and b) not likely to get him in overt trouble if he did kill it was because he was currently destroying a tree. Very, very, **very**thoroughly. He didn't like having to save universes…_again_.

"As to your questions," continued the demon, "When whatever-it-was took over the hive-mind a few personalities got splintered off. I'm one of them. We're not a true hive-mind; that's a common misconception. It's better to view us as mostly individuals who interact on a very personal level regularly. We still have individual quirks. I'm not trying to kill you because killing people is mean, and being mean isn't nice, and my former comrades were trying to kill me because they had realized I was an individual and not a complete slave to whatever-it-was who took over the hive-mind. We're here because they were chasing me and this is where they caught me."

"Fun," commented Domino. "I know what it's like to have your community chasing after you with blood in their intent. Not fun, huh?"

"Nope. What're you doing here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well," interjected Kate. "I accidentally called them up from their own reality, and now they're helping me destroy aforementioned hive-mind. Want to join?"

"WHAT! You're heading _towards_ the Site of Impending Doom? That's half a step short of suicide! Why not jump off the Cliffs of Insanity? It's safer." Said the insect.

"But suicide is so much fun!" said Kate gleefully, jumping around cheerily.

"…she scares me," said the exceptionally tall, giant, (maybe) evil, potentially extremely destructive demon insect.

"I know," said Robin fervently. Actually, that's what he _tried_ to say. What he actually said was "Ig ohw," because he was still sucking on the coffee beans.

"Okay. I'll join. Insanity must be catching. Mind telling me your names?"

"Great! I'm Kate, that's Domino, the buzzing one is Impulse, the one currently flirting is Superboy, the flirtee is Wondergirl, the floaty one is Secret, the one currently rolling her eyes is Empress and the one wandering around being generally destructive is Lobo. He's psychotic."

"And I'm Sker'ret. Nice to meet you too!"

"Shall we get going then? Lobo, get over here, stop killing the nice trees, and Impulse, don't eat that, you don't know what it is much less were it's been, it's time to go. And don't kill Sker'ret here, he's nice."

End Chapter 3

**A/N**: Special prize to anyone who recognizes any of the three little references I made. I need a bit of help. First off: any ideas on what to call the assorted peoples? "the group" or "YJ and the Cats and the demon-bug" is starting to get on my nerves. Secondly, I need a name for the demon-bug-things, because calling them the demon-bug-things is too much for the lazy author to type. Also name for Kate's weapon. No, not a personal name (like Samuel. I quite like that name) but a name for what sort of weapon it is. Thirdly, if anyone feels like telling me what sort of pairings to have I will probably take it, having no real opinions. If nobody says anything it will probably end up pretty non-romantical. Actually, it probably will anyway. But it will be less so if nobody cares. Or if nobody cares enough to review.

Speaking of reviews, I need them like Robin needs his coffee. And if I don't get them, much like above metaphor, I am liable to become depressed and stop writing. But if you're not reviewing you probably don't care if I don't write more anyway. Damn. Foiled again! Blackmail won't work, I guess. Back to square one: shameless begging.

Please review! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease! It's common courtesy to review if you read the fic. Certainly if you like it enough to read all the way to chapter 3. Even if you hate it, please review. Though if you hate it and review, tell me why you hate it please. Then I'm not left wondering what exactly it is you hate. This isn't going to work on you cold-hearted review deniers either, is it? Okay, lets try bribing:

Hypothetical chocolate or other treat of choice, _plus_ a personal email from me, the author _plus_ a shout-out _plus_ a review of your own story (if you have any or if I haven't already) to all reviewers. Definitely. Okay, nice reviewers. Not flamers. Because they're not very nice…


	4. Chapter Four

Welcome to **Mistakes,** Chapter Four

**Disclaimer:** Somebody else owns everything. I own Kate, Domino, what remains of the plot and Sker'ret, though his name is Diane Duane's. I borrowed it for the purpose of this fic. :grin:

**Shout-outs:  
**RobinIV: Romance-bunnies! They're everywhere! NOOO! _ahem_ Sorry. Blame it on my muses, Valentine's day and a chocolate overdose.

The Uncanny R-Man: Thanks ever so for your input! You think Kate and Impulse should have romance-type things? I can see that... Might be Domino, however. The obscenely chipper need sarcasm in heavy doses to keep them under control. It works the other way, as well. I am of the sarcastic variety, so I know this to be true.

Now on with the fic:

Kate was still running ahead, slightly too happy for the situation. Domino was apparently thinking, a pensive look on his face; he was ignoring Impulse, who was being overly hyper, rushing everywhere and then some. Sker'ret was talking to Empress while Robin listened in with vague disinterest, occasionally inserting a comment. Secret was asking questions of Kate, and Wondergirl and Superboy were talking as well, and Lobo wasn't. Though, surprisingly, he **wasn't** destroying things, a previously unseen phenomenon.

Later that day as the sun set they came to a largish clearing. Kate came to a stop. "Our first camp!" she announced, hands flung wide as if to present it to the world. Domino quirked an eyebrow at that pronouncement, obviously perhaps less-than-accepting of her unfounded optimism.

"Do you think you could be _any_ more obscenely happy?" he drawled.

"Probably. Want me to try?" asked Kate, with a slightly evil smirk.

"Scary people…" muttered Sker'ret.

"I think we should push on," said Robin, sack of coffee finally out of his mouth.

"**I** think we've gone far enough," said Superboy.

"There's no saying that we'll find another good campsite before we're all exhausted," interjected Empress.

"We could send Impulse ahead to scout," put in Wondergirl.

"Whoah, look at this cool bug I just found over there!" said Impulse.

"Okay, maybe not."

"We'll stay **here.**" Said Secret, her eyes dark and hooded in the half-light, her gaseous body melting into the slight mist that had started to rise from the ground. Her voice held a note of absolute finality. The silence in the glade was so thick you could cut it with a knife and sell it as bricks.

Only Kate seemed unaffected. "Sounds like we're here, then! Who wants to cook, who wants to clean, and who wants to set up the camp?"

Eventually chores were distributed, everyone working diligently (okay, most people) at their allotted tasks. As soon as a good fire was started the cooking commenced, the sizzle of frying fish and mushrooms filling the glade.

Soon after _that_ everyone was given a large leaf with their portion of dinner on it, along with a double handful of assorted greens gathered by Sker'ret over the days' hike. The sounds of people eating soon filled the glade.

"What I wouldn't give for a pizza…" moaned Superboy.

Okay, eating and complaining.

"You should be happy we're not eating something Robin or Impulse cooked." Said Wondergirl acidly.

"I'm not _that_ bad a cook! You're just as bad as I am!" protested Robin.

"Damn thing's not even bleeding…" muttered Lobo darkly.

"It's so quiet out here, in the wilderness," sighed Secret, gazing happily at the star-scattered sky.

"Or at least it **should** be," muttered Domino.

"Quiet is overrated!" said Kate with a grin, still scarily chipper. "Okay, Sker'ret, tell us about yourself. Sker'ret? Sker'ret? Where are you?"

Sker'ret wasn't in the clearing, or apparently anywhere in the immediate vicinity. The darkness pressed in close around the group as they searched the camp area, a chill wind blowing disconsolately through the sparse brush beneath the trees, sending shivers up spines. The sky stretched unbroken above them, the silence enveloping the group.

Eventually they gave up and gathered again near the fire. Domino threw a few more logs onto the smoldering ashes, sending dancing shadows around them, warped and twisted by the flickering flames and the dark punctuation of the shadows of the trees. Secret, who had been remarkably silent all night, spoke up again.

"We're not alone." The absolute conviction in her voice made everyone give her their attention. The rustlings of the woods seemed magnified in the silence that followed, the hissings and cracklings of the fire startlingly loud.

"What's out there?" asked Domino, taking her seriously. Her voice allowed no argument.

"It is… darkness. It is loneliness, forgottenness, the abandoned, hopeless and helpless among us. It is hunger…hate."

Everyone scooted in closer to each other, Empress giving a nervous half-glance over her shoulder. The sudden noise of a log falling as it burned made everyone jump.

"What…" started Kate, her voice breaking from nervousness. She tried again. "What is it? I mean, what manner of creature?"

"I don't know," she said, sounding more herself, albeit more nervous than normal.

"Let's move to the trees," said Kate, giving them a yearning glance.

"Definitely." Said Domino. "They're our best and last hope… I don't think we could outrun whatever it is that's out there. I do wonder though… What happened to Sker'ret?"

A/N: And that, dear reader, you will have to wait until next update to find out. Oooh, I'm so evil… :cue evil laughter:


End file.
